Top 5 fights to show to a new MMA fan

Diaz/Gomi
Hominick/Jabouin
Fedor/Cro Cop
Nakamura/Tokoro
Shogun/Lil Nog

 

Some good lists getting posted but with one glaring omission :nono

 

Silva/Maia?

 

That's two. But yes Silva :good

 

My guess would be Silva vs. Sonnen. It's more than likely in my top 5 and certainly in my top 10. I haven't delineated it exactly but for sure that's somewhere in there.

 

Anything from PRIDE and the early UFC's.

 

Starting with Coleman - Takada?

:hat

 

Totally Severn-Shamrock II

 

I haven't seen that one, but I heard it was a war. It must have been nothing but quality, being in the pre-Zuffa UFC, right? :yep

:hat

 

Instead of criticizing, post your own top 5.

 

.... what thread are you reading?

 

I tried to compose one before, but I couldn't because there are too many choices, depending on what you want to emphasize. Action packed. Dramatic comebacks. Historical significance. Technical battles in the same fighting style. Style vs style matchups.

Also I am an MMA noob, there are too many classic fights that I haven't seen, and too many things I don't know enough about yet. For instance, I can't intelligently recommend the greatest pure grappling type match, because I don't appreciate the technicalities of grappling enough to have a strong opinion of my own.

Also for me there is no real use in showing ring fights, because that is essentially a different sport entirely, and essentially it is now defunct. You can't sell the sport on PRIDE and then say "Oh by the way, that organization is dead, so now you get a cage and a heavily-modified set of rules."

So I would not include any of the old PRIDE matchups in there, I would have a separate list for them.

Basically, because of all these reasons I decided not to post one single list. That is why I comment and joke but do not put names of my own forward. :good

:hat

 

Don Frye V Takyama.
Sakuraba V Gracie.
Manhoef V Cyborg.
Yvel - Goodridge.
Silva V Griffin

 

Anyway, I'll try. Only UFC fights considered. These are all designed with an eye to someone who thinks they might want to start actively following the sport.

Forrest Griffin vs Stephen Bonnar.

Reasons: Ticks a good few boxes. Historical significance is as high as anything in the sport's history. It's a real blood and guts war the whole way, so it is a good "this is pretty much as violent as it gets" fight. Not a highly skilled or technical fight but there is a lot of emotion involved, a lot of good sportsmanship displayed, and a great one-off conclusion with the whole "Both of these guys get contracts" before the decision is read.

Cain Velasquez vs Brock Lesnar

Reasons: There's nothing like a heavyweight title fight, and I chose this one for a couple of reasons. One, the atmosphere was electric. Brock's ringwalk was an ATG. Two, it illustrates a big philosophy of the UFC. Top guys get tough fights. Brock was the big moneymaker and Cain a relative unknown with a huge chance of upsetting him after just one defence, but the fight was made anyway and sure enough, after weathering an early storm Cain pretty much splattered Brock. It's a good scrap though, and a big one.

Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen

One from the UFC's greatest champion. Is it one of his greatest victories, or is it one of his worst efforts? Opinion is divided. Undoubtably it is an example that victory in MMA can come at any time from anywhere, and also an example that one fighter lying on top of another for 23 minutes straight can still be extremely eventful and entertaining, depending on the fighters involved.

Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard 2

Heart, guts, action-packed, dramatic swings in momentum, high-level skills on display, this fight has gotta be a classic for anyone with an interest in fight sports.

Nam Phan vs Leonard Garcia 2

Threw this one in there because it was a really good, close, hard-fought, entertaining scrap between two mid/lower-level guys with a ton of respect for each other. I would use this as an example of an "average good UFC fight." That is to say, there are a hundred fights like this I could have chosen. If you watch a UFC PPV there will be at least two or three fights like this, and maybe four or five.

:hat

 

That's a pretty big call. That fight was ****ing amazing, given the history (Phan getting absolutely robbed in their last encounter), added to the action in the fight (Phan getting dropped twice(?) in the last round after he'd trounced Garcia for the 5 previous rounds they'd fought) and the overall class and general likability of both guys involved... you don't really get that many fights like this.